ULEZ coming to Birmingham

[mybrainhurts]

NMNeil said:

nunpuncher said:

It's a great way to completely kill city centres. Gives another good excuse for not travelling in to the office every day and just pushes even more people towards just doing all their shopping online.

Government backed SAVE OUR CITY CENTRES campaign due to be launched in 2025.

But you have many groups in the UK who are against the car and they have taken the time to publish plans such as this;
https://www.cprelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/s...
And your only plan is to keep everything as it is, or better still dig up all the pavements, parks and open spaces to make room for more cars.
You're fighting a losing battle.

While the ecofreaks are winning the battle....to kill the city centre.

[PBCD]

Killboy said:

So in London it's all Kahns fault. Who's to blame in Birmingham?

The Peaky Blinders?

[NMNeil]

mybrainhurts said:

While the ecofreaks are winning the battle....to kill the city centre.

They have managed to loosen the grip of the car in many cities already.

[KTMsm]

TriumphStag3.0V8 said:

Since this is PH, more importantly City Powder Coaters/City Wheel Refurbishers in Digbeth are inside the zone

Got to pick up a couple of sets of wheels from there on Sat, fortunately the cock up with the charging will save me £8 :-) this time.

Agreed - I think they'll either move or start a collection / delivery service

[R Mutt]

Killboy said:

So in London it's all Kahns fault. Who's to blame in Birmingham?

I don't know how local government works there but probably not the Mayor

[rigga]

Waseem Zaffar seems to be the lead in the program

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50067/the_execu...

[t400ble]

TriumphStag3.0V8 said:

Since this is PH, more importantly City Powder Coaters/City Wheel Refurbishers in Digbeth are inside the zone

Got to pick up a couple of sets of wheels from there on Sat, fortunately the cock up with the charging will save me £8 :-) this time.

Same here!

[Otispunkmeyer]

haha Euro 6 diesel

if its a Euro 6b (NEDC) level, it'll be fking awful on NOx. Like really awful.

We have a couple of Euro6b test cars and on real driving routes the NOx emissions are typically well over 1 g/km. The Euro 6 limit is supposed to be 80 mg/km!

Euro6d Temp cars can just about meet this requirement.

ETA. Just realised the OP was 3 years ago. Win.

[FiF]

Someone pointed out the other day that bus and rail services into Brum are reasonably good so why would you drive for shopping. Problem is, that for our rural area, apart from the pain of having to drive somewhere to join said transport, once you're aboard the service then travels through some really scabby areas. Travelling back on a Friday or Saturday evening you can almost feel the collective sigh of relief once you're past a particular station, no names no packdrill, as by then most of the scummers have alighted.

Regardless of saving the threatened 60 million fine apparently payable to European Commission per earlier post this will kill Birmingham Centre, already in enough trouble. Will it help to rejuvenate towns away from that centre, only time will tell.

[Fastdruid]

Otispunkmeyer said:

haha Euro 6 diesel

if its a Euro 6b (NEDC) level, it'll be fking awful on NOx. Like really awful.

We have a couple of Euro6b test cars and on real driving routes the NOx emissions are typically well over 1 g/km. The Euro 6 limit is supposed to be 80 mg/km!

If the 6b is so bad what where the pre-6b like?

Which is of course *why* we're in this situation of being massively over the limits.

[havoc]

FiF said:

Someone pointed out the other day that bus and rail services into Brum are reasonably good so why would you drive for shopping. Problem is, that for our rural area, apart from the pain of having to drive somewhere to join said transport, once you're aboard the service then travels through some really scabby areas. Travelling back on a Friday or Saturday evening you can almost feel the collective sigh of relief once you're past a particular station, no names no packdrill, as by then most of the scummers have alighted.

It was me, and that's a fair point.

[MrBig]

FiF said:

Errr, I've got a Euro5 diesel, no DPF ever fitted, and the exhaust certainly is not fairy farts the first time it gets a bootful after some gentle pottering. It's also properly maintained before anyone goes down that route.

So devil in the detail.

Ok, well, my car definitely pre-dates Euro 6 but has a DPF. I have never seen an ounce of smoke/soot out the back of it.

[FiF]

MrBig said:

FiF said:

Errr, I've got a Euro5 diesel, no DPF ever fitted, and the exhaust certainly is not fairy farts the first time it gets a bootful after some gentle pottering. It's also properly maintained before anyone goes down that route.

So devil in the detail.

Ok, well, my car definitely pre-dates Euro 6 but has a DPF. I have never seen an ounce of smoke/soot out the back of it.

Mine you don't see anything much in daylight, but at night the lights of any following vehicle really show up what gets chucked out. After the first couple of 'positive speed increases' as the saying goes, then not much visible, but that first bootful, an absolute mucky cloud.

Even so it's never the really black stuff that comes out of old taxis, buses and so on.

[KTMsm]

havoc said:

FiF said:

Someone pointed out the other day that bus and rail services into Brum are reasonably good so why would you drive for shopping. Problem is, that for our rural area, apart from the pain of having to drive somewhere to join said transport, once you're aboard the service then travels through some really scabby areas. Travelling back on a Friday or Saturday evening you can almost feel the collective sigh of relief once you're past a particular station, no names no packdrill, as by then most of the scummers have alighted.

It was me, and that's a fair point.

The above is why I wouldn't want to use public transport if I was going for a night out (I have in the past)

The reason I wouldn't use it for shopping is because I regularly dump bags back to the car, shopping is bad enough without carrying a multitude of bags around for hours on end

[CooperS]

R Mutt said:

'No one needs to drive in Central London anyway'..

I did today. Nicest way to travel and avoid public transport over the two hotest days of the year so far. Parking in grosvenor ncp, short walk to the hotel and even shorter to where we ate and had a few drinks.

It took me an 1 hour 45 mins to do the 60 miles and I reckon that's only slightly longer door to door than a train to Waterloo and underground.

Open rail tickets would of been £60.25 each and the parkin plus congestion (I don't have an exempt ticket on my company EV) cost just shy of £125 + electric at £6......

What I did realise is (as a non Londoner) how smelly and congested London city centre is and I completely get why the city is tryin to discourage punters from driving.

[CooperS]

KTMsm said:

havoc said:

FiF said:

Someone pointed out the other day that bus and rail services into Brum are reasonably good so why would you drive for shopping. Problem is, that for our rural area, apart from the pain of having to drive somewhere to join said transport, once you're aboard the service then travels through some really scabby areas. Travelling back on a Friday or Saturday evening you can almost feel the collective sigh of relief once you're past a particular station, no names no packdrill, as by then most of the scummers have alighted.

It was me, and that's a fair point.

The above is why I wouldn't want to use public transport if I was going for a night out (I have in the past)

The reason I wouldn't use it for shopping is because I regularly dump bags back to the car, shopping is bad enough without carrying a multitude of bags around for hours on end

I agree on both points. I'm to old and have choice (for now). The shops don't allure me enough so that if the journey is any harder I'd choose to avoid.

Ordering online becomes second nature. Just sad that you don't get that shopping experience.

[Franco5]

No surprise that the full implementation has been delayed. I come into regular contact with BCC and you’d struggle to find a bigger bunch of cretins.

[KTMsm]

Franco5 said:

No surprise that the full implementation has been delayed. I come into regular contact with BCC and you’d struggle to find a bigger bunch of cretins.

I find that very hard to believe have you seen how Waseem Zaffar performs in interviews ?

I just googled him and I thought perhaps I had him wrong, then I saw his Linked In where he lists Oxford University - he was there on a 5 day course FFS !

[Mikebentley]

Chatting to lots of people in Waseem’s community today. Most live within the zone and are fuming. I think he might struggle to get elected next time round. Incidentally I walked round Digbeth, China Town and the Bull Ring area this morning for work. About 3 miles between 08:00 and 09:15 and the roads were dead. This maybe CV19 related due to WFH so fewer commuters but there were plenty of people about whom I can only assume would normally use public transportation anyway. The interesting statistics will be how much money it raises. One business I visited has already moved outside the zone and another was planning to move now.

[Saweep]

I can't believe how quiet the city is compared to a week ago

Reminds me of the late 90s to drive about; despite the road closing madness I can get anywhere to anywhere in 5/10 mins within the ring road.